Allen & Co.: Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

The past few days Garrett has been doing so well! He has been eating great from a bottle, they have been cutting back on all his medications, and his breathing treatments and CPT (percussions) have been getting more and more spread out! Today was the day to try and finally get him off the oxygen. The first try was this morning at about 8:00. Garrett's oxygen levels dropped enough that the RT wasn't comfortable leaving him off and so she turned it back on to a teeny tiny whiff. The next try was around noon. He did great for about an hour and then all of the sudden his SATs really started to drop and he just couldn't keep his oxygen levels up anymore. So, Garrett was very quickly moved back into the PICU.
I know the peds nurses are good, but our PICU nurses are awesome. They got things under control so quickly. Garrett is now back on vapo therm - he just needs a little more help breathing than normal oxygen. When we got back to the PICU, Garrett was so cold. The nurses got him all bundled up and warm in no time. His nurse Karen said that was his body's way of clamping down. Since he was in pretty bad shape they put the feeding tube back in - they want to give him a break and let him recover before he has to work to eat again. So, no more bottle feedings for a bit. I must admit this move was so very disappointing since on Sunday they were thinking we might be going home tonight. But at least we know that Garrett is getting the care he needs and that eventually he will get over this and be able to come home! His RT said to keep the big picture in mind - that Garrett has taken two steps forward and only one back.

Right as all of this was going on we were told that Santa had come to visit with the kids and have pictures taken with them. Since Garrett was in isolation, and we were going to be moving soon, we couldn't see how a picture was even possible. But our nurse suggested we take the picture as we were changing rooms - it worked out perfectly. Here is Santa outside Garrett's room waiting to meet him!